Artifacts showcase many aspects of county history

By Janet Bigler Overland Trail Museum staff

Posted:
07/18/2012 12:18:54 PM MDT

Overland Trail Museum staff member Janet Bigler straightens up a dress in the Country Roots and Cowboy Boots exhibit, which celebrates Logan County's 125-year anniversary. The exhibit will be open through the end of the year. (Courtesy Photo)

STERLING --To commemorate the 125th anniversary of Logan County, the staff at The Overland Trail Museum has assembled a collection of artifacts that portray various aspects of Logan County throughout its history. The "Country Roots and Cowboy Boots" exhibit opened June 1.

The saloon section includes a restored player piano, a homemade still, and a silver kerosene lamp base with a bullet hole shot through. Looking through the calf-skin surface of a snare drum used by area musician, Albin C. Benson, one can see the rattlesnake rattles that he incorporated into the drum for added interest. Information regarding the role of alcohol consumption in early-day Sterling and the ensuing role played by the Woman's Christian Temperance Union is also part of the exhibit.

In honor of the 150th anniversary of The Homestead Act of 1862, the cowboy/homesteader section includes a looping digital display of early Logan County photographs. The furniture in this section includes an upholstered chair made from cattle horns that was found and donated by the Propst family and two kerosene stoves -- one for heating and one for cooking (along with period cookware). Also included are a side-by-side wardrobe comparison of fur coats and gloves, including bear, horse, bison and Russian wolf.

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A segment has been devoted to the Logan County Fair, which has been integral to community life since its inception. Many early fair photographs are on display, as well as a quilt made of red, white, and blue championship ribbons from the 1920s and 1930s. On loan from the ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy in Colorado Springs is the barrel used by famed rodeo clown Jimmy Schumacher. It is the only rodeo clown barrel that was ever patented.

Overland Trail Museum staff members Janet Bigler (left) and Carter Hough hang the banner above the special exhibit located in the Dave Hamil building. (Courtesy Photo)

Saddles on display include a silver-trimmed saddle that was used by O.J. Ferrell for his palomino show horse. The circa 1900 split riding skirt of Sarah Arnold, wife of early sheriff "Blondy" Arnold (1904-1908), is exhibited along with a lady's side saddle.

Photographs of Logan County sheriffs dating from 1887 are on display, as well as a special tribute to the first woman county commissioner, Elda Lousberg. The County Government section also includes the first ballot box used in Logan County, a jury chair used from 1888-1910 in the first courthouse, and prisoner shackles (a ball and chain) dating from 1865.

Of particular interest is an original hand-drawn plat of Sterling dated Feb. 5, 1884. Many longtime residents of Logan County will also recognize the pronghorn antelope that stood in the courthouse rotunda for many years.

The exhibit will be on display in the Dave Hamil building through mid-November 2012.

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